FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. XLI No. 240 | INDORE | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 6, 2025 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 FREE www.freepressjournal.in ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: Sports UJJAIN WORLD Halep hangs up her racquet P.14 INDORE PRESS PUNE BHOPAL Spectre of Nakba looms large NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit Panama caught amid the giants P.6 Cinema Kangana’s Manali cafe P.12 104 Indians deported from US land in Amritsar Rajesh Moudgil CHANDIGARH A US military C-17 Globemaster aircraft carrying the first lot of 104 illegal immigrants, deported by the US after President Donald Trump launched a crackdown, landed at Sri Guru Ramdas Ji International airport in Amritsar on Wednesday around 2 pm. Earlier reports had claimed that the US military plane was bringing back 205 illegal immi- fp grants. These included 30 of them from Punjab, 33 each from Haryana and Gujarat, 3 each from Maharashtra and UP and 2 from Chandigarh. The deportees were questioned inside the airport terminal building by different government agencies, including the Punjab Police, and various state and central intelligence agencies, to check if they have criminal record. The deportees were expected to be allowed to go to their homes following A US military aircraft carrying Indian immigrants at Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport, in Amritsar. PTI verification and background checks. Family members of only a few of the deportees were re- ported to have reached the Amritsar airport. There was heavy barricading outside the airport and police personnel were deployed in large numbers. Most of these illegal immigrants are said to be in their 20s and 30s, while there are also about a dozen of them who are below 16 years of age, including two children who are under five and four years old. Media reports also said that the four-year-old belongs to Mehsana district of Gujarat and the oldest, a 44-year old, is from Mumbai. The deported included about 24 women. From among the 30 de- ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS | Vote counting on February 8 Briefs NEW DELHI RBI likely to cut repo rate The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in all likelihood, is set to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points for the first time in almost five years, aligning with the Budget's objectives of stimulating economic activity while managing a prudent fiscal position, which provides comfort on currency and inflation fronts, industry experts said on Wednesday. The central bank last reduced the repo rate by 40 basis points to 4 per cent in May 2020, to help the economy tide over the crisis following the Covid19 pandemic. NEW DELHI FM: avoid AI tools India's finance ministry has asked its employees to avoid using AI tools, including ChatGPT and DeepSeek, for official purposes, citing risks posed to confidentiality of government documents and data, an internal department advisory showed. Countries like Australia and Italy have placed similar restrictions on the use of DeepSeek, citing data security risks. BJP edge over AAP in Delhi exit polls Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI Even as parts of Delhi were still voting, as many as seven exit polls, all of which claimed to have sampled the voters between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Wednesday, predicted the Bharatiya Janata Party to win the Delhi Assembly elections after a long gap of 32 years. However, the way these polls have written off the ruling Aam Aadmi Party should be viewed with some amount of circumspection, especially considering the past, and recent, history of exit polls. But if their estimations were to come true, the BJP would win around 41 seats in the 70-member House while the AAP would have to settle for around 28 seats. Most of these exit polls have given the BJP anywhere between 35 and 50 seats and the AAP 2537 seats. As for the Congress, which was unable to open its account in the last two elections, these polls have indicated a resurgence but only given the party 0 to 3 seats. The exit polls which have shown the BJP to be clearly ahead included those by Chanakya Strategies (39-44 for BJP and 25-28 for AAP); Poll NEW DELHI Kharge loses cool at BJP MP Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge lost his cool during a speech in Rajya Sabha when Neeraj Shekhar, BJP MP and former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar's son, interrupted him. Kharge reminded Shekhar that he was a contemporary of his father and had seen him as a child. EXIT POLL BJP AAP Congress Chanakya Strategies 39-44 25-28 2-3 Matrize 35-40 32-37 0-1 P-Marq 39-44 21-31 0-1 People’s Pulse 51-60 10-18 0-1 People’s Insight 40-44 25-28 0-1 Poll Diary 42-50 18-25 0-2 JVC 39-45 22-31 0-2 WeePreside 18-23 46-52 NA Diary (42-50 for BJP and 18-25 for AAP); DV Research (36-44 for BJP and 26-34 for AAP); People’s Insight (40-44 for BJP and 25-29 for AAP); People’s Pulse and Codemo (51-60 for BJP and 9-19 for AAP); JVC (39-45 for BJP and 22-31 for AAP); and Republic PMARQ (49 for BJP and 21-31 for AAP). For the AAP, which faced anti-incumbency of 10 years of rule and also a tirade of charges of corruption and misgovernance from both the Congress and the BJP, there was still something to cheer in these polls as one of them, conducted by WeePreside showed it returning to power for the fourth time by bagging between 46 and 52 seats with the BJP lagging at 18-23 seats. Yet another pollster, the Republic Matrize has shown a close contest with BJP getting 35-40 seats and the AAP 32-37. It should be remembered that in the event of a hung Assembly, the AAP would be in a better position to form the government as the Congress or any other party, like Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, if they were to win any seats, would find it hard, considering their support base, to join hands with the saffron party. 4Continued on | P8 There was 58% turnout in the high-decibel Delhi Assembly polls till 5 p.m. According to the Delhi CEO, the turnout had jumped to 57.70% as of 5 p.m. The highest turnout was in Mustafabad at 66.68%. Karol Bagh recorded the lowest turnout at 47.5%. 11 killed in Sweden mass shooting FP News Service OREBRO (SWEDEN) AP NEW YORK tages held in Gaza. The comments came as talks are ramping up this week with the promise of surging humanitarian aid and reconstruction supplies to Gaza after more than 15 months of conflict which has laid waste to the area. Now Trump wants to hustle roughly 1.8 million people to leave the land they have called home and claim it for the US, perhaps with American troops. Sweden's worst mass shooting left at least 11 people dead, including the gunman, and at least five seriously wounded at an adult education center west of Stockholm. The gunman's motive hadn't been determined by early Wednesday as the Scandinavian nation - where gun violence at schools is very rare reeled from an attack. Officials said on Wednesday that three women and two men, all with gunshot wounds, underwent surgery at Orebro University Hospital. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 ucc PTI Only one live-in relationship has been registered in Uttarakhand's Uniform Civil Code (UCC) portal in the first 10 days of its implementation. Officials claimed that five applications have been received from live-in couples for the mandatory registration. One has been granted registration while four others are being verified, they said. On January 27, the BJPruled Uttarakhand became the first state in Independent India to implement the Uniform Civil Code, which promotes equal laws for every citizen across all religions and standardises personal laws on marriage, divorce and property. On the occasion, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami launched a portal designed for the mandatory online registration of marriages, divorce and live-in relationships. He was the PM Narendra Modi offers prayers after taking a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers during Maha Kumbh Mela festival, in Prayagraj on Wednesday. AFP 4Continued on | P8 ED grills transport scam accused Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL ED officials on Wednesday questioned Sharad Jaiswal for over six hours at Bhopal Central Jail in connection with the ongoing corruption probe into the transport department scam. Jaiswal, arrested by Lokayukta police on January 28, was sent to judicial remand until February 17 after a week in police custody. According to Jail Superintendent Rakesh Kumar, a team of five ED officials arrived at the jail around 12:30 pm and began their questioning of Jaiswal. The session concluded around 6:30 pm, with officials presenting numerous documents and asking detailed questions. Officials said that ED may continue questioning Jaiswal on Thursday and plans to interrogate the remaining two accused, Chetan Singh Gaur and Saurabh Sharma, in the coming days. 4Continued on | P8 Before attending GIS, Modi may visit Bageshwar Dham PM will lay foundation of cancer hospital; preparations underway Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit Bageshwar Dham in Chhatarpur district before attending the Global Investors’ Summit (GIS) on February 24. He may arrive at Bageshwar Dham at noon on February 23 and lay the foundation of a cancer hospital there. Pandit Dhirendra Shashtri of Bageshwar Dham is building a cancer hospital. He was trying to get the foundation stone of the hospital laid by Modi. According to sources, the Prime Minister has agreed to lay the foundation of the proposed hospital. Modi is coming to Bhopal to take part in the GIS. Before taking part in the event, he will lay the foundation of the hospital. Wedding of 251 girls will be celebrated at Bageshwar Dham from February 22 to 26. Out of 251, 108 girls belong to tribal community, and Dhirendra Shashtri is participating in the event. Together with Modi, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav may join the programme. After attending the programme in Chhatarpur, Modi will reach Bhopal late in the evening. Before participating in the GIS, he will go to Raj Bhawan where he will join a dinner. After taking oath as Prime Minister, Modi will do night halt in Bhopal for first time on February 23. Arrangements are made for his stay in Raj Bhawan. After inaugurating the GIS on February 24, he will leave for Delhi. CM RELEASES 5 CHEETAHS INTO THE WILD IN KUNO Our Staff Reporter Uttarakhand's Uniform Civil Code (UCC) provisions for mandatory registration of livein relationships first to register his marriage on the UCC portal. The UCC's provision for mandatory registration of live-in relationships has been much criticised for its potential to infringe upon people's right to privacy. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav marked a significant milestone in wildlife conservation by releasing five cheetahs, including female cheetahs Dheera and Asha and her three male cubs, into the wild at Kuno National Park in Sheopur on Wednesday. This brings the total number of cheetahs in Kuno to seven, following the release of Agni and Vayu in December. The release was dramatic: as CM Yadav opened the cage, one cheetah sprinted into the wilderness at lightning speed, leaving the crowd in awe. During his visit, CM Yadav lauded the efforts of forest officials, veterinary staff, and ground crew in the success of the Cheetah project, assuring them of enhanced support and resources. He also highlighted the importance of ecotourism as a tool for both conservation and local employment generation. Fiery 14 In 2022,20 cheetahs were translocated to Kuno National Park from Namibia and South Africa. Of them, eight have Mallya: Debt recovered multiple times over K’taka HC issues notice to banks PTI However, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had justified it by saying mandatory registration of live-in couples would help prevent brutal incidents like the murder of Shraddha Walkar by her live-in partner Aftab. Senior lawyer of Uttarakhand High Court Kartikeya Hari Gupta went so far as to term it as a move to "peep into bedrooms", generally seen in police states which was not envisioned by the country's constitution makers. "The initial not-so-enthusiastic response from people to the UCC shows that they are not quite eager for it. Otherwise, at least those who favoured its introduction during consultations with the drafting committee as claimed by the government-appointed panel would have come forward to apply for registration," another high court lawyer Dushyant Mainali told PTI. 4Continued on | P8 died, reducing the count of adult cheetahs to 12. Meanwhile, two cubs were born to female Cheetah Veera on Tuesday. Earlier 12 cubs were born to other female cheetahs. With this, the total number of cheetah cubs in Kuno now stands at 14. Cheetahs became extinct in India in 1952. Philanthropist Aga Khan dies AP PARIS BENGALURU First live-in couple registers in U’khand DEHRADUN namami gange... BHOPAL US will take over Gaza Strip: Don after meeting Netanyahu In remarks at once outlandish and provocative US President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside Gaza and proposed the US take “ownership” in redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” AP reports that Trump’s brazen proposal appears certain to muddy the next stage of talks meant to extend the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and secure the release of the remaining hos- portees from Punjab, maximum (six) belonged to Kapurthala district, five from Amritsar, four each from Jalandhar and Patiala, two each from Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and Nawanshahr (Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar) and one each from Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali, Sangrur, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran district. The deportation has come ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington next week. Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya on Wednesday claimed before the Karnataka High Court that the Rs 6,200 crore debt he owes to banks has been recovered "multiple times over," and sought a statement, detailing the amounts recovered from him, United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL, now in liquidation), and other certificate debtors. The High Court issued a notice to banks in response to the petition filed by Mallya on February 3. Justice R Devdas directed the banks to respond by February 13. As an interim relief, the petition also sought a stay on any further asset sales by banks under the amended recovery certificate until clarity is provided on the full settlement of the debt. Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya, representing Mallya, argued that the winding-up order against Kingfisher Airlines and its holding company, UBHL, had been upheld at all judicial levels, including the Supreme Court. Poovayya contended that the debts had already been recovered, yet additional recovery proceedings continued against Mallya. 4Continued on | P8 Aga Khan, who became the spiritual leader of the world's millions of Ismaili Muslims at age 20 as a Harvard undergraduate and poured a material empire built on billions of dollars in tithes into building homes, hospitals and schools in developing countries, died Tuesday. He was 88. His Aga Khan Development Network and the Ismaili religious community announced that His Highness Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, the Aga Khan IV and 49th hereditary imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, died in Portugal surrounded by his family. 4Continued on | P8